PHEV company VIA acquires automotive engineering company
20 May 2014
VIA Motors, a privately held plug-in electric vehicle development and manufacturing company, has acquired Prodigy Engineering, an electric vehicle design, engineering and prototyping company. Prodigy has been under contract with VIA to prototype new vehicle models for the company’s expanding portfolio.
The acquisition included an exclusive license to advanced Lithium-ion battery cooling technology. The technology promises longer battery life and improved performance across the operating spectrum. The Prodigy engineering talent will be retained. Founders Mark and Mike Patey will continue to contribute under a four year retainer and non-compete agreement with VIA.
VIA integrates its proprietary V-DRIVE power train into new OEM vehicles, then sells directly to fleets under the VTRUX brand name. VIA VTRUX deliver up to 40-mile battery range and unlimited extended range, averaging over 100 mpg in typical daily driving, according to the company.
Their business model requires a lot of rich people with no brains. Seems a bit of a stretch. You can't get competitive on cost by being a converson company, and only so many people have money to waste, and those that do might be frivolous in some more hedonistic way. I mean, the brainwash that driving is fun only works on dumb people, and they typically don't have money. If they do they are the spoiled children of wealthy parents and have no desire for environmentalism (since they can neither spell it or pronounce it). So, it seems to me to be a doomed company since they will have limited market, and other EV will soon be more available and more likely to be in a price range that is economically competitive.
Posted by: Brotherkenny4 | 21 May 2014 at 11:57 AM